Do you daydream at your day job about swimming with the dolphins
on your next vacation in Hawaii? Does your pulse quicken when you
imagine yourself coming across a lost tribe in the Brazilian
jungle? Do you find yourself drooling as you fantasize about
touring chocolate factories in Switzerland? Would you love to spend
all your time visiting art museums?

If we've almost lost your attention because your mind is off
thinking about any one of these or a thousand other variations,
then you might want to consider starting an adventure or specialty
travel company.

The market is ripe for energetic entrepreneurs. According to the
Travel Industry Association of America, between 1993 and 1997, half
of all American adults did something adventurous, from the 64.7
million who camped out to the 3.9 million who hang glided. And
almost one-third of those who hadn't done anything said they
were looking to add adrenaline to a future trip.

According to Jerry Mallett, president of the Adventure Travel
Trade Association, Americans are spending $220 billion on these
activities each year (compared with over $500 billion for the
general leisure U.S. travel market and $3.5 trillion worldwide).
After climbing to the double digits, annual growth of the adventure
travel industry is currently 8 percent.

For one thing, baby boomers will enter their peak spending years
over the next decade and are eager to pay for something other than
the same boring getaways. That might mean shelling out a few
hundred for a bike tour of wineries or $75,000 to climb Mt.
Everest. But adventure travel companies say the hot demand is for
vigorous activities combined with upscale accommodations and meals,
which means higher prices.

And then there's the softer and more diverse vacation
choices listed in the semiannual Specialty Travel Index
(www.spectrav.com), such as a
week in Mexico learning Spanish or a trip to Paris to take gourmet
cooking classes. Whatever the interest or age, there's
something for everyone.

Scott S. Smith writes for Business Start-Ups when he
isn't traveling adventurously in places like Northern Ireland
and Cuba.

Finding A Niche

The first key to success is to find a niche-and there are
plenty of them. All of this is waiting for the right entrepreneur,
both for companies servicing inbound (providing local tours by
referral from travel planners) and outbound (sending customers on
tours they've designed) customers.

Tricia Suriel, 38, saw an opportunity for a mountain bike
touring company in the overlooked destination of the Dominican
Republic. After starting Iguana Mama with $10,000 in 1993, she
decided to sell her Breckenridge, Colorado, children's ski
school, put the proceeds into the ever-growing new operation and
move to the island. She's now something of a celebrity
there.

Similarly, George Deeb got frustrated while trying to compare
offerings for things he wanted to do, like scuba dive in Belize or
climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Using business contacts he'd acquired as
an investment banker, the 31-year-old secured venture funding for a
comparison-shopping Web site (www.iexplore.com) where consumers
could find the perfect trip by checking out offerings from
different companies; he then talked 100 companies (that compete
with one another) into putting everything about their 5,000
vacation packages online, backed by extensive help-desk support.
Now, iExplore Inc. provides everything from weather information to
maps while earning a commission on booked tours and sales of travel
gear. But if you don't own a ski school and aren't a
finance professional, you'll probably need to work harder and
more creatively to get the money together.

Potential Start-Up Problems

Start-up costs range from $5,000 to upwards of $25,000-in
fact, those who've tried this say you're risking failure if
you don't have at least $25,000. Keep in mind that your dream
may not pay off right away, and you might have to shell out a lot
more for marketing than you expected.

There are plenty of other start-up issues to consider as well,
such as your own industry experience (or lack thereof). Travel
entrepreneurs advise you to work at a tour company before venturing
out on your own. Otherwise, like Josh Cohen, you'll face big
problems.

In 1991, Cohen, 26 at the time, used his credit cards to start
what was to become InnerQuest Wilderness Adventures in Sausalito,
California. Then he ran into a series of speed bumps: Someone had
already claimed his business name, and it was costly to change it;
his first ad in an adventure travel magazine flopped due to a
malfunctioning toll-free number; plus, he hadn't figured out
how to turn his outdoor personal-growth courses into a year-round
business. Eventually, he had to put most of his profits back into
the business to try to keep it going-all $100,000 of
it-and it still wasn't enough: By 1997, the early debts
forced him to reorganize under bankruptcy laws.

But the painful lessons learned made InnerQuest's financial
reorganization very successful, and Cohen, now 35, has added
ecotours in Belize and Costa Rica during most of the year, taking
groups into the deep rain forests where most tourists never
venture.

Tim Vanderhoof, 32, took industry experience one step further.
Despite having spent much of his life "in every facet of the
travel industry here and abroad," he figured he could still
use some mature help. He split the costs, risks and ownership with
Nancy Johnson, who had 20 years more experience, and in April 1999,
they formed AlfresCo Corp., a Seattle company that provides
adventure programs for corporate training.

Vanderhoof and Johnson also planned a slow rollout to work out
the kinks. "Our mantra is 'underpromise and
overdeliver,' and when I assess a project, I add 50 percent to
the time I expect to be able to finish," Vanderhoof
explains.

Taking Over Another Company

Another way to minimize your start-up risks is to take over an
existing operation that isn't exploiting its potential. Brian
Mullis, 30, started as director of operations for what is now
called The World Outside in Boulder, Colorado, in 1993, after he
earned his master's degree in recreation from Springfield
College in Massachusetts. Five years later, his parents co-signed a
$100,000 loan so he could take over the firm, and he has added 20
percent more programs to the menu, resulting in 13 percent annual
growth and 30 percent profit.

Taking over a company is the best way to get into back-country
tours because the U.S. Forest Service, which controls the most
desirable lands, rarely issues licenses to new operators. But that
can still mean starting from scratch.

Toby Hemmerling, 29, worked as a ski tour operations manager in
Aspen, Colorado, for several years. He and a former partner, Burke
Blackman, researched local licenses and found a family firm in
nearby Steamboat Springs, Colorado, that was barely using the 15
square miles it had been allotted for wilderness skiing. The asking
price of nearly half a million dollars was steep, considering that
the owners' equipment was worth almost nothing, but the
partners saw enormous possibilities.

"We worked out a detailed business plan and met with 200
potential investors, asking everyone we could think of for names of
people who might be interested," recalls Hemmerling. "A
week before deadline, we only had 17 of the 20 commitments we
needed and were about out of prospects, when someone we had
presented to but who hadn't shown much interest decided to
provide all the money himself."

In August 1999, Steamboat Powder Cats Montjoux LLC became an
entirely new company on the same property and expected 1,800 people
to pay an average of $240 each for a package, totaling $432,000 for
its first December-to-April season.

A Start-Up Plan

Once you have a cool idea and a reasonable combination of money
and experience, the start-up plan has to be worked out in as much
nitty-gritty detail as possible.

Cost-effective advertising and marketing is the greatest
challenge once you've launched your venture. Cohen of
InnerQuest found mailing lists of supposed "adventure
travelers" worthless and now primarily relies on features in
magazines like Men's Health and GQ to find
initial contacts. Most of his business now consists of happy repeat
customers; his brochures feature their testimonials.

Sinem Iber, 27, took a different approach when she started North
Star Tours Inc. of Houston in 1995. She began by going to Turkey
and spending a lot of time checking into location details for her
highly personalized cultural tours; she then spread the word about
her service and primo guidebooks by giving free lectures at
bookstores throughout Texas. At the end of each talk, someone in
the audience always wanted her help.

Suriel invited travel writers to take tours and ended up with
rave reviews in places like The New York Times. She also
developed a colorful, thorough Web site (www.iguanamama.com), where she
posts all the articles for prospective customers to read.

Suriel exhorts those who want to go into adventure and specialty
travel to stick with their vision. It took her five years to make a
real profit, but now she's flying high. Says Suriel, "Too
many travel entrepreneurs fail simply because they don't listen
to their gut and they give up too soon."

Specialty Travel Business Resources

Entrepreneur's "Specialty Travel and Tours
Business Start-Up Guide" provides important tips about the
things you should know before you jump into the field.

The Adventure Travel Trade Association (719-530-0171, www.adventuretravel.com) keeps
its members up-to-date on developments in the field. Certification
seminars are held at its annual world conference; the next one
takes place September 11-14 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Specialty Travel Index (415-459-4900, www.specialtytravel.com) is a
twice-yearly magazine showing travel companies the adventure and
special-interest tours that are being offered.

Special-interest publications aimed at the adventure travel
market, such as Escape Magazine,Outside Magazine and
National Geographic Adventure, will give you ideas on
what's being offered and ways to reach potential
customers.